Who is a detached Person?

When thoughts about the mysteries of life have a strong hold on the mind of some people, they leave this worldly life, renounce their household and become detached.

Guru Nanak says:

Thousands of people renounce the world physikally and claim to be detached, but true detachment is that which pleases the Lord. One who is really detached is one who listens to the Shabd (Sound Current, Word) and is filled with the fear¹ of God, and carries out his spiritual discipline in accordance with the precepts of his Master. He serves the Lord, meditates of Him, accumulates the Treasure of His Name; his thirst and hunger for worldly objects vanish; he feels His presence everywhere; he is fully satisfied with the Elixir of His Name; he is the trully detached person. He achieves this with the Grace of a Master.

One who has reached the stage where he can see his Master within at will, is always a detached person. He will completely disregard the criticism of others. A truly detached person is one who has a strong desire to meet the Lord and for whom it is not possible to live without Him. He thinks of Him with every breath and considers life useless without Him.

My Mind is now detached and I have a strong longing to meet Him. That place is blessed where Thou art. My Mind has become detached and a filling of renunciation has entered in me, because I yearned for the Darshan of my Friend, the Lord. Just as a butterfly cannot live without flowers, I cannot live without God. I am in love with my Beloved and I am now detached every minute of my live. This body is worthless without Him. I cannot sleep without the love of my Beloved. But when I meet God then my mind is full of bliss.

Adi Granth

A detached person is absorbed in Shabd and is thus truly detached. Others are all on the downward path. The detached person beholds light within himself and listens to the Shabd. Thereby his mind is fully attuned to the Lord.

A detached person is really detached if he is attached to the Shabd. Others are all making false claims and are following the wrong path. Oh my mother! my mind is attached to Shabd and is dyed in detachment. Therefore it has become completely detached. There is light within, and through that light comes the Shabd by which my mind is attuned to the True Lord.

Adi Granth

Without service to the Master and without contemplation, everything is foggy. No one can cross the ocean of life without Shabd. But whosoever is absorbed in Shabd or Naam is a really detached person.

The world is all illusion without service to the Master. Without Shabd nobody can cross the ocean of this world. He alone is fully detached who is fully engrossed in Shabd, because this Shabd is True. Shabd is my Master and Shabd is my Spiritual Guide who is as deep as the sea. This world is a desolate land without Shabd. Only a truly detached person can attain the state of Sahaj. So says Nanak, Oh Ye! take it as True!

Adi Granth

A person who is absorbed in Naam is always detached. Even when he is leading a householder’s life, his mind is attached to the real Truth.

Adi Granth

He alone is a real detached Sadhu in whose mind Naam has entered. He who has known himself by attuning himself to Naam is detached.

Adi Granth

A true detached person rises to the regions above, because true detachement comes after crossing the three gunas (attributes). Such a person goes to Him home.

Adi Granth

A detached person has mind fixed on His Home and is free from hope and despair. He is fully satisfied with the gift of Naam and is contented because he has drunk deep from the ocean of Amrit (Elixir) in the Sahaj.

Adi Granth

The mind is day and night detached, and the soul has fixed its abode in the Spiritual Region above Sun Madhal (Daswan Dwar). It was the magnificent blessing of my Master who gave me the knowledge of Alakh Lok² (the Indescriable Region).

Adi Granth

He is detached who is dyed in the color of God, because his mind is attuned with Naam and he drinks the nectar of immortality. He follows Hukam (the Will of the Lord); he has true knowledge, and he has destroyed his mind and the mind’s desires.

A detached person is always engrossed in the Naam of God, and the Lord is always near such a one. Oh my God! I can live only if I meet Thee. Have mercy on me and give me a glimpse of Thy Darshan.

Adi Granth

Everlasting bliss is enjoyed by those who have understood the knowledge of Truth, by the Grace of the Lord. Oh Nanak! I say, only that person is detached who has his mind permanently fixed in Him.

Adi Granth

Only a Gurumukh is truly detached. He has control over his five senses and has subdued lust and anger as well as his mind.

A Gurumukh has attained pure light and all his doubts have vanished. Oh Nanak! A Gurumukh is always the recipient of joy and he is constantly detached in the Name of God.

Adi Granth

Through the Grace of my Master I have conquered all my five senses, and through His Grace also I have asquired the virtues of forgivenes and patience. That person is really worthy of all praise who sings the praises of the Lord.

Adi Granth

Oh Ram (God)! he who has subdued his mind is the real detached person.

Adi Granth

Such a person having realized his self lives desirelessly in the world of desires. His mind is in contemplation day and night. Such a person is really detached and merges in the Lord. One who has renounced all desires and is also free from the attachment of illusion, is detached from all directions and really has detachment ingrained in his mind. Such a person is very fortunate.

With the Grace of God and our karmas, detachment is acquired through a Master, by His Satsang and by following his precepts implicitly. One who is gifted by God with the quality of fear, obtaince real detachment through that fear.

Detachment is actually a pre-requisite for meeting the Lord. Real detachment is produced when Shabd is heard within, because then the ties with the world are broken. When one becomes detached the cycle of birth and death is ended; pain, worry and separation will never come; illusion is destroyed and the bliss of Sahaj is attained.

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Footnote: 1) Fear of God comes only with Love. 2) The sixth Spiritual Region.